Games as Capacity Building Instruments

How seriously has “Serious Play” been applied in Urban Planning?

Why Games in Capacity Building?

• Complements “Traditional” Training

• Supports WBI ‘action learning”

• ScalabilityProblem Identification/challenge

Team Problem SolvingAction Plan/ Strategy

ImplementationReflectionLessonsRevisit

Act

ion

Lear

ning

Educational Games in Urban Planning ?

Type of GamesParticipatory Games

Decision Making Games

Specialized Games

Computer Games

PlastiCitySimCityEcopolicyMadison 2000

Non-Computer Games

‘Citizen Lane’ Transport Planning Board Game

Land Use Planning and Zoning Board Game

Blended Games The Harbour Game

WBI Urban Street Addressing Board Game

Background: request from the African Local Government Action Forum (ALGAF) for a course on street addressing

Objective: Rely on simple interactive techniques to develop an educational game on “Street Addressing” that will familiarize technical concepts and demonstrate the importance of street addressing to developing countries.

Learning objectives:• To learn about the benefits and applications of street addressing

in an urban setting;• To be aware of the challenges and issues of implementing a

street addressing strategy;• To develop collaborating, problem solving, resource management

and team building skills through strategic play;• To learn important street addressing terminologies.

WBI Urban Street Addressing Board Game

Game Mechanic Concepts• 3-6 players • 45 minutes to an hour of play time• Can be facilitated in workshop settings. • Rule book will be in different languages• “Challenges” of differing severity levels, both positive and

negative to allow for an element of chance. Derived from real life case examples of urban management issues in cities.

• “Resources” (eg. Municipal revenue, grant, street fixtures, street numbers etc.) used to progress in the game and encouraging resource management.

• growth in the physical form of the city

Conclusion

• Games used in Ad Hoc fashion for informal role playing activities in WBI workshops/courses.

• Design educational games or ‘capacity games’ in more structured and targeted manner.

• Games appear to assist in i) raising awareness through play, ii) influence behavior and decision making and iii) sensitize on policy issues.

• Still lot to learn about their potential as didactic tools in building capacity.

Expectations from this Seminar

• The objective is to gather good practice and learn how to apply it in ‘capacity building games”- such as deciding on specifics of the street addressing game

Floor to the Experts!